The arrival of the IBM WebSphere Application Server 6.1 presents Eclipse-oriented developers with some big decisions. The newest version of this popular runtime will depend largely on Rational Application Developer (RAD) for tooling. However, as enterprise architects and operators begin to adjust to this major new release from IBM, Genuitec is now delivering MyEclipse Blue Edition as an alternative upgrade path for tools. MyEclipse Blue Edition is not competing with IBM as much as catering to an under-served market of people that may not be able to afford the quick and full Rational tool adjustment. To help us better understand the upgrade issues and full cost-benefit analysis of WebSphere Application Server 6.1, Dana Gardner of Interarbor Solutions recently chatted with James Governor, a co-founder and industry analyst at RedMonk, as well as Maher Masri, president of Genuitec. Read a full transcript of the discussion at: http://briefingsdirect.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-eclipse-based-tools-offer.html. Sponsor: Genuitec.

Complexity in today's IT systems makes previous error prevention approaches for operators inefficient and costly. IT staffs are expensive to retain, and are increasingly hard to find. There is also insufficient information about what’s going on in the context of an entire systems setup. Operators are using manual processes -- in reactive firefighting mode -- to maintain critical service levels. It simply takes too long to interpret and resolve IT failures and glitches. IT executives are therefore seeking more automated approaches to not only remediate problems, but also to get earlier detection. These same operators don’t want to replace their system’s management investments, they want to better use them in a cohesive manner to learn more from them, and to better extract the information that these systems emit. To help us better understand the problems and some of the new solutions and approaches to remediation and detection of IT issues, Dana Gardner of Interarbor Solutions recently chatted with Steve Henning, the Vice President of Products for Integrien, in this BriefingsDirect podcast. Read a full transcript of the discussion at: http://briefingsdirect.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-ways-emerge-to-improve-it.html. Sponsor: Integrien.